“Tom came back by the morning train, having visited Harry & Lily, Mrs S.S. & the Stephenes as well as staying with Aunt Nannie & Aunt Isabella. Mrs S.S. told him a story of Frank Stephens’s school, how the boys came to ask F.S. to introduce punishments – all other schools had them, & apparently they didn’t know how to manage without. He said if he did it wd probably be caning & would they wish that? They consulted & replied yes if the girls were caned too. F.S. pointed out that the girls had not asked for any punishment, & he would not give it to them till they did – so I don’t know whether the boys had to go on as before or have some other kinds of punishment.”
NLI Call Number: MS, 3582/37
NLI Catalogue Link can be found here
Date Range of Diary: January 27th 1920 – October 26th 1920
WEEK 120: 1st – 7th March 1920
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…out the road with Louis, and I visited R. Butler, or tried to, but she wasn’t up & I couldn’t get in.
Monday 1st March. – Tom came back by the morning train, having visited Harry & Lily, Mrs S.S. & the Stephenes as well as staying with Aunt Nannie & Aunt Isabella. Mrs S.S. told him a story of Frank Stephens’s school, how the boys came to ask F.S. to introduce punishments – all other schools had them, & apparently they didn’t know how to manage without. He said if he did it wd probably be caning & would they wish that? They consulted & replied yes if the girls were caned too. F.S. pointed out that
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the girls had not asked for any punishment, & he would not give it to them till they did – so I don’t know whether the boys had to go on as before or have some other kinds of punishment. I had a big committee in the evening about the cinema problem, to arrange about the general deputation to the corporation. Mrs O’Shaughnessy saw Intolerance and saw no harm in it.
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rather a pretty name. When they heard Louis’s name they took it to be Louise, which they seem to pronounce Lou –iss. I went to Cumann na mban a.t., more talk about the jumble sale.
Wednesday 3rd March. – Louis slept in my room this night & was quite good. Ben has got the lecturing job at Capetown that he was trying for, and is to start about the 19th, & to come here on the 9th for a couple of days. He seemed to fear he might marry & settle down without ever going abroad for a bit if he didn’t go now.
Saturday 6th March. – Mr Hambrey & Miss Leighton and Mrs Hayden came after tea to spend the evening. Hambrey said some of the boys had gone to hear the preaching Welsh miners & seemed to like them. He was suffering a good deal from
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surprise at finding everyone take that kind of thing so seriously. Miss L. had a very pretty little black and white blouse & looked very nice. She sang a couple of songs – drawing room kind of things they seemed to me, & afterwards When All was Young, but her voice is not soft enough for it. D. sang too, I attempt from Love’s Sickness etc. Miss Leighton was telling about discussions she had had about women clergy etc with men in the Y.M.C.A, who seemed to talk exactly like St Paul & be very rattled that a woman should dare to take up any but the most submissive attitude on the subject. Mrs Hayden was interested, I think, & Hambrey seemed to be. Miss L. made the extraordinary remark that women in ancient Greece & Rome were freer than they are now. Louis never woke, I suppose from being on the top storey.
Sunday 7th March. – Fine day cold – a sprinkle of
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snow the night before. T. & I & Louis were out the Grange road and the mountains were all white. The Redmonites had a great procession in the afternoon, being the anniversary of Redmond’s death, with 3 bands, & nearly as many women as men.